


I'll get by, If my star burns bright

by SundayZenith



Category: Death Stranding (Video Games)
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Possibly OOC, Pre-Canon, Smoking, Spoilers, Star Gazing, attempts at humor, that got long enough to justify putting here as well, this started out as a silly headcanon post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:48:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SundayZenith/pseuds/SundayZenith
Summary: Cliff Unger loved space and the stars more than he let on.A ficlet.
Relationships: Die-Hardman & Clifford Unger, Die-Hardman/Clifford Unger
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	I'll get by, If my star burns bright

**Author's Note:**

> Lmao this started out as a headcanon post that got out of hand. I meant it to be like one line but Opps -\\(•<•)/-
> 
> This is based on the fact that Cliff referenced space like twice in the flashbacks.
> 
> Title from “Starburner” by Steam Powered Giraffe

Cliff Unger loved space and the stars more than he let on. When he first came to America as a child, he dreamed about being an astronaut- being able to travel throughout space, to see moons up close and see the entire planet from afar? The thought captivated him for hours.

He never did become an astronaut, of course, but he still got to travel in the end, thanks to joining the military, and he’s still mesmerized by the sky. During quiet nights out in the field, at base or wherever his team set up camp for the night, he would spend a few moments stargazing, comparing how the stars overhead to how the stars arranged themselves at their last stop.

Often, John would join him, usually declining the cigarette he offered. He would use his free hand to point out all the constellations in between chastising John for his latest copied-straight-from-a-bad-action-movie stunt.

“Most of the white hairs on my head are your fault,” he’d say without any real bite (most of the time), not turning from the sky.

(John has always known he’s had a  _ thing _ for authority- the way someone carries themself, the sacrifices they had to make, they were nothing like the action heroes from his favorite movies. They had a hidden human side, that was sometimes ugly and sometimes beautiful and he loved it either way.)

(John sometimes considered replying with, “you should thank me, those white hairs look like streaks of starlight,” but even he knew that was cheesy as hell and there was no way he could pull it off.)

Cliff Unger took more comfort in space and the stars than he let on. After Lisa was put on life support and his son was put in a pod and Cliff was left with no one but himself to blame, he pulled his old books on astronomy, bought his BB an astronaut keychain, and promised to take his son anywhere, even the moon.

It’s funny, how life starts and ends with the sea, when the man who raised hell and took a bit of that hell with him to see his child loved the sky so much more than he let on.

(Cliff would have been absolutely delighted to learn that Bridget names his son Samual Stars-and-Stripes-Forever Strand, ignoring every part of the name except the first part of the middle name. Sam, for his part, finds the middle name humiliating and ditched it long before he ditched the last name as well).

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I wholeheartedly believe that if she could have, Bridget would have put the entire Declaration of Independence on Sam’s birth certificate
> 
> The bit about Cliff immigrating to America is based on how some of Mads Mikkelsen’s accent made its way into his performance. Though, it’s possible that Cliff’s subtle accent in the result of his parents having accents themselves (my father is from the Middle East, my mother was from the south and apparently the way I said my vowels when I was younger was a bit different from my peers)
> 
> Tumblr: sunshine-zenith


End file.
